This bill provides funding for the NNSA’s ongoing projects, including loans, related to Nuclear Weapons Activities, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, Naval Reactors, and the Office of the Administrator. Funding for civilian personnel compensation and benefits is allowed only after the Department has “taken all necessary actions to reduce or defer non-personnel-related administrative expenses.”

The bill ignores all other functions under the jurisdiction of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. For instance, all major contracting awards by the Corps of Engineers have been suspended, hurting private companies and preventing job creation, and closing or reducing hours for 2,500 Corps of Engineers sites. This bill also does nothing to reopen the Department of Energy’s Office of Environment Management, which provides more than $5 billion for the safe cleanup of the legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and nuclear energy research. Finally, this bill does nothing to fund the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nor the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. The Rule for H.J.Res. 76, which was adopted last week, provides for a closed Rule and 40 minutes of general debate. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Possible Consideration of legislation related to the Debt Ceiling

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOKThe GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Saturday, October 12: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business and votes are expected in the House. The legislative schedule will be announced as it becomes available.

The Daily Quote

“Americans have come to hold a harshly negative view of the Republican Party during the government shutdown, giving the GOP a far larger share of the blame for a political brawl that many believe is harming the economy, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll found…. Participants in the poll gave the Republican Party overall its lowest marks in the history of Journal polling, which goes back to 1989: More than twice as many hold a negative view of the GOP as a positive one…. In all, 53% of those polled blamed Republicans for the shutdown, compared with 31% who blamed Mr. Obama—numbers that showed the GOP taking a worse beating than the party did 17 years ago during the last extended shutdown, under President Bill Clinton. Asked about the current budget battle, 70% of participants faulted Republicans in Congress for putting their political agenda ahead of what's good for the country.”